Ana Kasparian dedicated a segment on TYT to the growing threats facing Jerusalem’s Armenian community, spotlighting a battle over the Old City’s “Cow’s Garden,” a culturally significant area that makes up roughly 25% of the Armenian Quarter and is at the center of a disputed long-term lease that Armenians say could lead to displacement. Kasparian also highlighted documented anti-Christian attacks targeting the Armenian Quarter, citing recent incident tracking by Israeli and international sources, while underscoring that Jerusalem’s Armenian Christians, a community rooted in the city for more than 1,500 years, are increasingly confronting intimidation, vandalism, and violence, reports Zartonk Media.
Kasparian said the Armenian community in Jerusalem “is now and has been under threat from encroaching Israeli settlers,” arguing that “anyone under the impression that the only people who are being terrorized, the only people having their land and homes stolen from them by Israeli settlers are Palestinians or Palestinian Muslims, you’d be mistaken.” She described the situation as “about essentially cleansing the area of everyone that isn’t part of the Israeli in group.”
Kasparian said the dispute centers on Cow’s Garden, which she described as an area covering “about 25% of the Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem,” and noted that “for centuries, this land has been under the ownership of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem.” She added that a secretive land deal would turn the site into “a luxury hotel.”
Detailing the agreement, Kasparian said that “in July of 2021, three members of the Armenian Patriarchate secretly leased the plot to the Israeli real estate company Xana Gardens Limited for 98 years in exchange of $2 million with annual remunerations of around $300,000,” adding that “the company had plans to build a 7-star hotel on the plot.”
She said the deal triggered backlash, explaining that a Patriarchate member later claimed “that he was duped and tried to cancel the deal,” while Armenians in the community began “a legal challenge in Israeli courts.” Kasparian warned that “if the deal is successfully pushed through, the Armenian Quarter would be at risk of just fully disappearing.”
Kasparian then pointed to reporting from the BBC. In a 2024 BBC segment she referenced, the BBC reporter said: “Members of the 2,000 strong Armenian community have been guarding this plot around the clock. They faced bulldozers and attacks by armed thugs since they pressured their church leader to go back on a land deal. He’d secretly signed it with a Jewish Israeli developer.” The reporter added: “This may look like a car park, but it’s incredibly valuable real estate in a place of huge religious significance. And it’s now at the heart of a closely fought battle.”
In the same BBC excerpt, the reporter noted: “Armenians have been in the Holy City since the Fourth century. Activists point out that the murky lease agreement could now mean losing homes and a seminary, a quarter of Armenian property here.” Jerusalemite-Armenian Setrag Balian is shown in the report saying: “Everything was put in danger with this deal.” The BBC reporter then added: “But settler groups are committed to taking over more and more of the land here. It’s alleged they have links to the Armenian takeover.”
Returning to her own reporting, Kasparian said the legal fight is ongoing and addressed the claim that a church official was tricked into signing the deal, saying: “I don’t trust the Israeli courts to be honest with you. So I don’t have much faith that it’s going to play out fairly.” She added: “I don’t know what the truth is. I don’t know whether or not there was a secretive agreement and this individual knew exactly what he was doing. Or if he was in fact tricked, it’s going to have to play out through the courts.” Kasparian also said that “in the meanwhile… Armenians in Jerusalem continue to face persecution much like Palestinians have been facing,” adding that “you’ll find videos of this all over the Internet.”
Kasparian cited documentation of anti-Christian attacks, pointing to an Israeli organization she described as the Religious Freedom Data Center. Emphasizing its identity, she said: “So it’s an Israeli organization, I just want to emphasize that because there are lots of Israeli organizations that are doing good things, and this is one example.” She said the group’s latest report recorded “31 anti-Christian hate crimes across the occupied territories between July and September of this year, of 2025,” and that “the Armenian Quarter was the most frequently targeted sites.” She added that “6 of those 31 attacks were carried out against Armenian Christians,” and said the reported incidents included “spitting, verbal abuse, online incitement, vandalism of signage or defacement, and also trespassing.”
Kasparian also referenced a 2024 Associated Press report and the Rossing Center, which she said tracks anti-Christian attacks in the Holy Land. She said the Rossing Center documented “about 20 attacks on Armenian observers, Armenian private property and church properties in 2023,” describing incidents that “many” said involved “ultra nationalist Jewish settlers spitting at Armenian clergy” and graffiti reading “death to Christians” on the quarter’s walls. She added: “And this June, a group of Israelis allegedly attacked the Armenian monastery and other Christian holy sites during a raid that took place on the Armenian quarter.”
Kasparian argued the pattern shows vulnerability for communities outside what she called the “Israeli in group,” saying: “It doesn’t matter if they’re Muslims or if they’re Christians.” She criticized what she described as propaganda and demonization, saying she believes it has been used to “provide cover for the violence that they carry out,” and asked: “what’s their argument when it comes to Christians?” She then warned: “Because I guarantee you, they will resort to that.”
Kasparian concluded by arguing the core motive is property seizure: “So this is really just about stealing property and land. That’s it, at the end of the day, that’s what this is.” She added: “And you have to call it like you see it,” and warned against “tribal thinking,” saying: “No, when you provide cover for injustice that’s carried out against one group, it will come back to haunt you, I guarantee it.”
